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Kundalini effects the state of awareness within your vehicles. As it is focalized, it may
powerfully absorb your attention within, intensify the activity of your higher vehicles,
and withdraw energy from your Conscious mind and your personality. In the deepest
states of kundalini awakening in your vehicles, you enter samadhic trance.
In samadhic trance, you are unable to move, to speak, or even to thinkyou are
completely merged in bliss and the ecstasy of the Soul and its higher octaves.
Understood and mastered, the Kundalini awakens the multi-faceted potentials of the
entire mind. Misunderstood, misused and awakened inappropriately, kundalini can lead
to disruption of personality functioning, kundalini emergency syndrome, and psychosis.
In reading all this it is important to remember that the Kundalini process is only the
mechanical and volcanic opening of the way for Grace to descend. Our emphasis is on
Grace, else why bother with the risks and potential unpleasantness of the arising
Kundalini.
Grace is always the aim. Unlike the energies of the ascending Kundalini which are rather
impersonal and automatic, the nature of the descending Grace is that of the Intelligent
Love of the Divine. Kundalini only moves, Grace creates, nutures and transforms. For
Grace to descend the Kundalini rises to make a path and then must descend again to make
space for the Grace to come in. This is why it is so important that the full cycle of rising
and descending is mastered.
The other thing to consider is that sometimes Kundalini does arise spontaneously and we
need to be able to understand, support and stabilize the process so that it may bring the
many benefits that can be had.
.
These states are most definitely non-ordinary. This document seeks to assist the reader in
mapping where in the process a given person may be, and to advise appropriate support.
The Criteria
There are specific effects on behaviour and the kinds of actions and attitudes you can
expect from a person at various stages. We use these criteria to grade our students.
If the process is spontaneous then the person will be experiencing a period of weeks or months of
the kinds of emergence characteristics described for the Greater Kan and Li. It generally takes
about 5 years to fully integrate a Greater Kan and Li experience.
If the process is directed the movement from starting to awaken Kundalini to the Lesser Kan and
Li is usually measured in months, after that the persons own evolution and integration of the
Lesser Kan and Li will largely determine the interval between Lesser and Greater Kan and Li.
The distinguishing factor between Greater and Lesser Kan and Li is that the Greater ALWAYS
causes a complete loss of control during the height of the event.
1. Before the Lesser Kan and Li - Diagnostics and checklists to see how the various
chakras are wiring up and to help people through the issues associated with that.
1. Your "pipes" get bigger, and blockages in the pipes are gradually dissolved by the energy
running through them - that is to say you can "carry more current". But only in the places you
actually do send energy through. (Some blocks can also be helped by acupuncture.)
2. Your "generator" gets more powerful - that is to say that you can "generate more current" (In
fact each chakra is a mini generator that you activate by breathing into it.)
3. Your intent (hopefully) becomes more concentrated - you can use the current to do what you
want to do rather than just exploding in all sorts of uncontrolled lightning bolts.
As the energy moves through the various chakras a keen observer can detect the
following changes or evidence of specific blockages:
Flighty, or
aloof.
Intensely focused kundalini meditation - a type of meditation that involved visualising and
focusing on an image of the kundalini rising from the base of the spine.
Intensely focused meditation on the divine.
There is a big difference between "just" running energy and being even partially Kundalini
Awakened. To say that you are Kundalini Awakened means that at some point you have
managed to get the wires between sex and brain connected, and run energy through them. You
may not have connected all the other stuff up, but the straight wire between sex and brain has
connected.
This is a significant, defining event, and it leaves a trace that is detectable by people who have
been through the Greater Kan and Li. The event might even have already happened a long time
ago, and you didn't really recognise it for what it was, or don't remember it.
Imagine you have plugged the wires from the sexual chakra and all the chakras together into the
brain, and you are in a nice open posture so the energy can flow and you are breathing to
generate increasing amounts of energy and send the energy around, and you are directing the
energy up the spine towards the brain, it will all still tend to fall apart when you stop concentrating
on it.
Being Kundalini Awakened (Lesser Kan and Li) means that that you can connect ALL the wires,
run your first stage generator (and all the minor chakra generators) and make the energy go
wherever you want. You get increased perception, fluidity of movement, and all that stuff, as long
as you are actively running the energy. If you keep working at it you also get the amazing, if
temporary effects of really running energy from your base chakra all the way through your crown
chakra, with all the first stage generators running and all the pipes wide open. This is a sort of a
rehearsal for the BIG THING, the Full Kundalini Arousal or Greater Kan and Li . (The feeling is
pretty amazing, and it is sometimes mistaken for the BIG THING itself.)
This is a discrete event a distinct, noticeable time-bound experience. It does not last.
A person may speak of experiencing inner sensations of light, sound or heat, feelings of
energy flowing or vibrating within, elevated sensitivity, spontaneous bodily movements,
a height-ened inward awareness or bliss, interest in spiritual growth, or a sense that
something non-ordinary, transformative or holy is happening.
At some point though, there comes a time when a certain critical voltage is hit and the wires
FUSE together. This sets off a second generator at the base of the spine that can only switch on
when the fusing has happened. This propels a huge burst of energy up and out of the crown
chakra towards the Stars/the Divine. The energy launches up and straight out of the body in an
incredibly powerful way. It literally surges straight up through the central channel like a rocket.
(Better hope to have your back straight at this point.) The body may jerk around as overspill from
this hits the energy pipes throughout the rest of the body. How harsh it is depends on how much
practice you have been doing to widen and unblock the pipes, and how relaxed your body is at
the time.
The key difference between these two generators is that the energy generated by the first
generator is directed by the mind. The energy that surges up the spine when the second stage
kicks for the first time is completely beyond the control of the mind.
This can feel pretty terrifying since the mind is not used to losing control. This is where we must
put our trust in the Universe and reach up.
After that, it is permanently connected. There is not a permanent awareness and ecstasy of the
energy surging up the spine (would be kind of impractical anyway) but the channel is open, and
you can get the second generator to kick in anytime you bring the voltage in your body up high
enough.
That is called Greater Kan and Li or Full Kundalini Arousal The BIG THING
The distinguishing factor between Greater and Lesser Kan and Li is that the Greater ALWAYS
causes a complete loss of control during the height of the event.
When the Greater Kan and Li is happening some or many of the following emergence
phenomena will occur.
Even if the process is being carefully directed these can be quite overwhelming, and
when the process is happening spontaneously, the more destructive phenomena tend to
occur. (See section on emergencies for what to do in these cases).
2. Yogic Phenomena
Some people find themselves performing yogic postures or hand mudra gestures which
they have never learned or could not do in a normal state of consciousness. Similarly,
they may produce Sanskrit words or sounds, or have an awareness of inner music or
sound, mantras or tones. Unusual breathing patterns may appear with either very rapid or
slow, shallow breathing. Some people may not breathe at all for extended periods.
3. Physiological Symptoms
A Kundalini Awakening often generates unusual physiological activity as intense
movement of energy releases toxins in the body. Symptoms include apparent heart
problems, pains in head and spine, gastrointestinal disturbances and nervous problems.
Internal sensations have been reported as sensations of burning, over sensitivity to
sensory input, hyperactivity or lethargy, great variations in sexual desire and even
spontaneous orgasm. Symptoms can be erratic, coming and going without provocation,
but are generally unresponsive to medical treatment.
4. Psychological Upheaval
Spiritual awakening offers a direct challenge to the primacy of ego consciousness and the
myth of separation. It brings with it a challenge to move beyond the unconscious
responses ruled by drives and instincts and remove ego consciousness from the centre
stage of the psyche. It comes as no surprise that such a challenge produces a period of
confusion and unbalance. People find themselves beset by inexplicable emotional states
as they move to clear out unresolved issues. The emotional roller coaster may swing from
feelings of anxiety, guilt and depression, through to compassion, love and joy, with
accompanying bouts of uncontrollable weeping.
For us, just having had the Greater Kan and Li, or Full Kundalini Arousal is not really a
measure of achievement because it can happen spontaneously (and destructively). The
achievement is in harnessing it and integrating it.
The ability to raise the kundalini from its ground state to its origin and guide it back to full
groundedness is a marker of Kundalini Mastery.
Careful control of the energy of the Kundalini grants the ability to:
Optimally energize any vehicle of consciousness for use
Awaken awareness through the whole range of its potential
Turn on specific abilities or siddhis to operate in the Subconscious, Metaconscious, and
Superconscious bands of the mind
Focalize the nurturing, purifying and healing aspects of the Kundalini in a specific vehicle
Arouse the kundalini in others, and guide it to rise to a specific stage of awakening; then
guide their kundalini back down to its fully grounded state
Utilize kundalini to open up a person for a potential descent of Grace
To pass the test with us you need to have experienced the Greater Kan and Li, and shown
significant evidence of having integrated it. Then you are validated by two people who
themselves have integrated the Greater Kan and Li, and have themselves been tested by
two people....etc.
It usually takes no less than 5 years to integrate a Greater Kan and Li event.
The ongoing observation of a person who has integrated their Greater Kan and Li will
show a marked change towards personal growth, characteristics of high moral nature,
detachment, cosmic expansion, inspiration, and psychic talents.
Also one observes the Fruits of their Work; watching the effect the person has on other
people and situations around them.
Further characteristics:
an awareness of the "cosmos, that is, of the life and order of the universe"
"an intellectual enlightenment or illumination"
"an indescribable feeling of elevation, elation, and joyousness"
"a quickening of the moral sense, which is fully as striking and more important
both to the individual and the race than is the enhanced intellectual power"
A humorous list:
A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past
experiences.
A loss of ability to worry (this is a serious symptom).
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes of the heart.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging self.
A loss of interest in judging others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of ability to worry (this is a serious symptom).
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes of the heart.
Increasing susceptibility to love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable
urge to extend it.
An increasing tendency to let things happen.
The full mastery of Kan and Li or Kundalini is to be able to direct the full cycle of the
arousal of Kundalini, its rising and its retreating back to base.
When this cycle is not yet mastered a range of Kundalini emergencies can occur:
K is going up and it is hurting
K is up and isnt coming down
K came up before I was ready
The key to avoiding these emergencies is steady practice and the precautions that are
taught within the system. If an emergency occurs due to a spontaneous awakening,
several strategies and methods are outlined below.
We have already given a list of symptoms of Kundalini emergence above, but here in
summary again:
An overload of one's nervous system with the potential to cause a break with reality,
necessitating a hospital stay and medical treatment. If you force Kundalini you can
overload your nervous system to the point that you feel like you are walking a tightrope
between sanity and insanity for days, weeks, and in extreme cases, even years.
Short or long-term disorientation where one spaces in and out of higher planes and is
rendered unable to focus long enough to be able to work. There have been a number of
cases where people have been debilitated by Kundalini and struggled for years trying to
correct the imbalances, often with no success and much despair.
Sexual dysfunction: I know of several people unable to have normal relationships with
their partners due to the workings of the Kundalini current in the genital areas. This
usually passes in time, but I know of individuals who have been burdened with it for
some time.
Severe anxiety: when Kundalini becomes overwhelming, it can make one feel as though
they are on the brink of losing their mind, and cause constant fear.
Nightly dreams where one leaves the body; in some cases a person feels as if they are
being tormented by negative entities that seem too real and cause one to wake up in total
fear, thinking they are doomed to experience these hellish dreams over and over.
Excessive Kundalini building up in the head when one tries to study or read for extended
periods of time along with waking up all through the night from the increased Kundalini
energy flowing into the brain (this can put an end to a person's pursuit of higher
education, and leave one tired all day from insufficient sleep).
Problems can surface years after the initial awakening: If you are having what you
consider to be a flawless Kundalini experience, do not think you are out of the woods.
Disturbingly, some peoples' egos seem to expand along with their consciousness when
they have what they consider to be an advanced Kundalini awakening. Some think
Kundalini will purify any blocks within people and fashion them into human beings
equivalent to the Mother Teresas, and the Dalai Lamas of this world. Not so! Some of
the poorest representations of spiritual growth gone wrong have been people with
advanced Kundalini experiences, or alleged to be fully enlightened, and some of the
finest have been those with the most challenging and problem-ridden Kundalini
awakenings.
Keeping the Kundalini raised will certainly keep you in a state of Samadhi, but it will
seriously hamper your ability to function in your personality. Remember, when the
Kundalini rises, it shuts off the functioning of the personality.
Being able to produce this state of catatonia is extremely useful if you are planning to
remain motionless without thought in a state of paralysis and suspended animation for
long periods of time, so that birds can build nests in your hair or people can bury you
alive. It is not a useful state if you are planning to work, study, or live any semblance of a
normal life.
There are three major types of phenomena that occur when the Kundalini won't come
back down:
(1) Your personality shuts down. When this occurs, you cannot function normally. Your
will doesn't work. Your sense of self is distorted, ranging from feeling you are a witness
viewing your body and life from outside (depersonalisation) to feeling you are an
omnipotent godlike being (grandiosity). You can't think logically. You cannot form
normal relational bonds with others. Your attention is locked or fixed in an altered state
of consciousness and it is difficult, if not impossible, to return to the ground state of
awareness. This state is frightening and overwhelming.
(2) You experience emergence phenomena. You may experience any of the physiological
and behavioural, emotional, psychological, spiritual and mystical markers described
above. This experience can also be frightening and overwhelming.
(3) You may enter Samadhic trance. In Samadhic trance you are in a complete state of
catatonia without; you are in ecstasy within. You cannot function, because your
personality is shut down. You cannot communicate the ineffable beauty and majesty you
are beholding. You may experience union with the Divine. You may find however, that
you cannot terminate this experience when you wishthat you are trapped or locked in
an ecstatic state of consciousness from which you cannot escape or emerge. This
experience is both euphoric and terrifying. It is euphoric when you are immersed in the
vistas of supernal bliss. It is terrifying when you can't come back.
There seem to be several helpful measures that we have noticed may assist you with
grounding the Kundalini energy. However if you are at the stage Gopi Krishna describes
where you are completely swept away, there may not be much that can be done; you just
have to ride with it until the energy stabilizes at a deeper level.
(1) Do a visualization: see the Kundalini energy as drawn down to the base of your spine
and drawn down into the center of the earth.
(2) Bring the attention down to waking awareness and keep it there [at the medulla center
where attention rests in the waking state of consciousness]. Stop meditating or altering
your awareness until the Kundalini is fully grounded again.
(3) Do some physical activity such as exercise, dance, or do heavy lifting to get yourself
fully grounded in the body.
(4) Look at pictures of people that you love on the physical Plane (No Gurus or Saints,
pleasethe objective is to help you connect your emotional seed atom with your human
relationships).
(5) Do some analytical work that engages your reason. Solve a puzzle. Read a technical
book. Take apart a watch, or fix something that is broken.
(6) Focus on just being a human being in your present body in your unique human life.
Reflect upon what you have experienced in your life, and how blessed it is to have this
human form. Appreciate your body, your ability to feel, your ability to move your body,
to think. You need to draw the energy back down from the state of higher consciousness
into your egoic state.
Recovery
Take it slow. Basic hatha yoga is probably OK. Concentration exercises (Raja Yoga),
contemplation focusing on the spiritual heart with methods like prayer should not
rekindle these fires. Your deep intuition will let you know when you are healed from this
ordeal.
How do you know? Your sense of harmony will be restored. You will begin to feel
peace. The terror will finally release. You will walk on the earth and feel grateful for
every step, grateful for every breath, grateful just to be alive. You will appreciate the
beauty around you, the miracle taking place within you.
This next set is from A Farther Shore by Yvonne Kason & Teri Degler. Dr Kason defines the term STE -
Spiritually Transformative Experience. " The Basics of a Balanced Lifestyle" is extremely practical and
valuable information for people recovering from any sort of emotional or spiritual crisis. This is from
Chapter 15 "Strategies for living with Spiritual Transformation".
1. Develop and stick to a regular daily routine - have a regular rising, bed, and meal times and set
aside regular periods each week for exercise.
2. Get plenty of sleep and rest and set aside regular times for daily relaxation and weekly recreation.
3. Do not skip meals. Eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet. You don't need to deprive yourself of
occasional treats, but avoid junk foods in general.
4. Keep the amount of stress and hectic activity in your life to a minimum.
5. Communicate and share your thoughts and feelings with a supportive person daily, or as often as
possible.
6. Keep you sex life moderate, and pay attention to your body if it seems to be telling you to cut
down.
7. Spend time in nature; get plenty of natural daylight.
8. Avoid toxins and self-destructive habits such as smoking and drugs; keep alcohol consumption to
a minimum.
9. Get regular physical exercise, at least two or three times per week.
10. Spend a moderate amount of time each day in meditation, prayer, and/or a spiritual practice.
Grounding Strategies. Many spiritual practices will disconnect you from the physical world. This is fine
for short periods, but large amounts of stress can result if you are not often grounded - centred in physical
reality. If emotional and mental stress starts to mount, try the following:
1. Stop meditating.
2. Decrease all forms of concentration.
3. Keep prayers very brief.
4. Decrease amounts of reading.
5. Decrease stress and the hustle and bustle in your life.
6. Increase your sleep, rest and relaxation time.
7. Try to follow a fixed daily routine.
8. Try eating small, more frequent meals instead of three large ones per day. Never skip meals or
fast during periods of intense Spiritually Transformative experiences, even if you feel an aversion
to food. Eating frequent, light meals is essential.
9. Avoid caffeine (not just coffee, also chocolate, coca-cola, tea, etc.); avoid junk foods; avoid
excessive and regular intake of refined sugar (a sugar craving during a crisis is often better served
through a sweet nutritious snack, eg dates or other dried fruit).
10. Cut out alcohol consumption or occasionally have just one glass of beer or wine per day. Small
amounts of alcohol can be very grounding, but can lead on to alcoholism in certain cases. Reserve
alcohol as an emergency grounding measure.
11. Increase your daily intake of protein, such as yogurt and other dairy products, chicken, and fish.
For the most grounding effect, eat red meat.
12. Cut out recreational drugs and tobacco if you haven't already.
13. Take some light physical exercise daily, such as walking, cycling, or swimming. Walking in a
pleasant environment is a very grounding exercise.
14. Do light manual work, such as gardening, cooking, housecleaning.
Since no two people experience the process of Kundalini in the same way, it is quite hard
to give general advice. But we do however try to give some rules of life that makes life
easier with an active Kundalini. But do remember that since we develop all the time our
strategies, too, need to change from time to time. And it is a good thing to remember that
what is useful for one person has no effect on another, or may in fact be harmful.
Be careful before you follow another person's advice. The following advice we have
partly taken from books, and partly developed out of our own experience:
1. Long walks are always a good thing. If you consider yourself too tired, try to go
anyway. To walk in itself redirects the energy down into the ground, and when you are
feeling better your strength returns spontaneously. Some people feel well when they do
hard physical work, for instance jogging, gymnastics or dance, and others feel
overpressure in the head and dizziness from too intense exercising. Do your own
experiments, carefully, and find out what is best for you.
2. Physical work requiring very little mental work, for example cleaning, gardening, or
household duties, diverts the attention from the process. The same is the case with light
work like needlework, painting, singing, poetry or working with clay.
3. Close contact with nature diverts the energy. In summertime close contact with a tree
or the ground is good grounding (to divert the energy into the ground) or walk barefoot
and the bioelectrical currents will more easily go down.
4. Normally you have to change your sexual life. If the sexual desire disappears
completely, it is best to make a pause. Some people experience increased desire and the
orgasms then balance the energies. If you do not have a partner - use "loving self-help".
Some people can absolutely not endure to have orgasms in the acute phases, even if they
would want to. The orgasm establishes a contact between the upper- and lowermost
chakras, so that the current unrestrainedly rushes up to the brain.
6. Overpressure and burning sensations in the head and in other places can, in some
people, be mitigated by ordinary prescription-free medicine. Muscle cramps can get
better with anti-cramp medicines, which can only be obtained on prescription. It is of
7. When the energy is extremely active there is a risk that you do not get enough food for
long periods of time. This increases the process. If you have a tendency to get into states
of trance or "space-out", then you can keep your blood sugar level up by eating small
regular meals or snacks, even if you are not hungry. And do not go to bed with an empty
stomach. If you are constipated, eat linseed. It regulates the function of the intestines. If
you have diarrhoea you can drink tea made from bilberry. Ask your health store. Eat
more than usual. And include more protein and sugar. If you are a vegetarian it is
important to get nutrients, big meals including dairy products, eggs, beans, rice, root
crops, coarse bread and so on.
8. If the problem is body temperature, a cool bath can mitigate. Swimming is good
therapy for most people. If you have burning sensations on the top of your head, you can
put cold water on the points where it burns. You do not have to soak your hair
completely. We know of one single case where the energy got extra violent in the bath, so
here, too, caution is recommended. If you freeze a lot or have joint- and muscle pains, a
hot bath can mitigate. If your body is burning hot and hand and feet are ice-cold or the
other way around, you should dress accordingly, or, have cold or hot hand- and foot
baths. Most people have problems with heat waves. Lie in the shadow and use a wide-
brimmed hat. Do not lie in the sun too long. Use sunglasses. Bathe as often as possible, or
have a cold shower. Drink cold drinks.
9. Massage, acupressure, healing, with or without bodily contact and such things have
helped some, but here, too, a warning must be issued since most people got worse.
10. Kundalini arousal and hypersensitivity to electricity walk hand in hand. Do not sit for
hours in front of a computer or TV. Some cannot stand neon lights. Avoid microwave
ovens and the clock radio. Use a high factor of sun protection when you sit in front of a
computer or TV and the like.
11. A Kundalini arousal can generate wandering pains throughout the body. Remember
that you can simultaneously have a disease, which causes pain, and which absolutely
needs treatment. For instance pains in the spine, which many experience, can be caused
by a slipped disc. See to it, then, to have a thorough examination by a doctor. See the
doctor also if there are other symptoms as, for example, dizziness and disturbed vision or
digestive problems. And forget the old myth that you cannot get cancer if you have a
Kundalini arousal. It is not true!
12. Avoid meditation, yoga, fasting, breathing exercises and other exercises, whose goal
it is to reach higher consciousness. They can increase the process. It is a fact that many
that meditate or do something spiritual in general, get worse. This includes reading of
spiritual books and participating in spiritual workshops. Some can do it but others should
be moderate. Prayer gives comfort and strength.
14. In the acute stage, when you experience extreme tiredness, it is nice to have support
from a person you can trust. To feel totally safe and leave the daily work in another
person's hands for a while can be a comfort when you feel miserable. If you lack the
ability to focus, this other person can help you remember and follow the advice in this
list.
15. It can be hard for families, friends and social workers, if any, to understand what is
going on. To avoid total isolation, use the contact list and talk about your problems with
others in the same situation.
16. Give time a chance. It happens to quite a lot of people who have had painful
experiences that the process completely stops by itself.